it’s really begun to set it. i’ve gotten used to the bustling traffic, the strange smells, the heat and humidity, and the food. kerry’s entry said it best. we just all have to “simply adjust.” and i’m beginning to.
on wednesday, we went pune to visit the university of pune, the film and television institute of India, and the national film archives of India, where we received a lecture on hindi cinema by Anil Zankar. the FTII was most interesting because of its history of breeding talented filmmakers. they still use old 1930’s-60’s equipment in comparison to WWI’s state of the art technology – an interesting juxtaposition. we will soon see what WWI has to offer to cinema, since the first set of students are just graduating.
on thursday, we went to a direction class where we learned things that we never learned at newhouse, which really annoyed me. it made me realize that there’s still so much more about filmmaking that i don’t know – and that i should be getting taught at syracuse. it also makes me want to go to graduate school. the best part of the day was going to prithvi theater to see a play of “Antigone,” starring Naseeruddin Shah. he’s famous, and we got to meet him backstage!
on friday, we received a brilliant lecture on indian storytelling tradition and its influence upon Indian cinema from WWI professor Indranil Chakrovorty. i could have listened to him lecture for days. i love learning about counter-culture and art cinema, and it was great to get a different view on indian cinema. most importantly, Mr. Chakrovorty introduced us to essential indian filmmakers Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen, whom have influenced many other important filmmakers. though i had never heard of these names before, i know them now, and knowing is half the battle. and thus, i can research and watch their films and become a better filmmaker.
we also had a guest speaker by the name of govind nihilani, a well-respected counter-culture indian filmmaker. i asked him what had made him interested in cinema, and he answered with a great story. he was only raised on religious cinema and became interested in photography because one of his friends liked to take pictures. he really enjoyed art, but his father wanted him to do something else. then, he saw an ad for a course in cinematography and he realized what he wanted to do to with his life. his father was adamantly against this, and they met with a guru to decide his future. the guru said that he would be best making art with something mechanical, and his father ultimately let him become a cinematographer. he also stated that he was drawn to film by films like The Red Shoes, a film by Michael Powell, and Lust for Life, a film about Vincent Van Gogh. and then, he asked me why i was interested in cinema, but that’s a subject for another blog post.
